Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) have officially extended their long-standing partnership through to 2036.
The agreement will cover both daytime long-distance services and their joint night time service.
Having first begun collaborating in 2016, the two companies came together to increase services between both countries, with the last ten years having seen passenger numbers increase by over half in daytime and nighttime services.
Sabine Stock, Board Member of ÖBB Passenger Transport, said:Switzerland and Austria have a long-standing partnership. Even though we like to compete for top spots in winter sports, we rely on teamwork on the railways. With the contract extension, we are continuing this successful collaboration for another ten years.
Currently, more than 30 direct connections operate daily between Austria and Switzerland, with six daily Railjet connections each way every two hours between Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Zurich, and five between Vienna and Zurich. There are also direct connections from Zurich to Budapest and Bratislava, and the service is complemented by the daily Eurocity ‘Transalpin’ from Graz via Schladming, Zell am See, Kitzbühel, and Innsbruck to Zurich.
The cooperation also includes Eurocity trains from Zurich – Bregenz and Zurich – Bregenz – Munich. These services connect Bregenz directly with St. Gallen, Winterthur, Zurich Airport and Zurich Main Station up to nine times a day.
Between them, the two companies aim to strengthen night train travel across Europe. Since 2017, they have worked together to render Vienna and Zurich the most important night train hubs in the region, and now offer six night train routes from Zurich to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Graz, Prague, and Vienna.
Matthias Bütler, member of the SBB Group Executive Board and Head of Passenger Transport, said:More and more people are traveling comfortably across borders by train. With ÖBB, we have the ideal partner to connect Switzerland with attractive destinations in Austria and Europe, both during the day and at night. The contract extension secures these popular services for the long term.
